Dobbies



Jan. 11, 1966 R. HONEGGER 3,228,427

DOBBIES Filed May 5, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 61a 67b 70 '71 51a 52 54 50b Jan. 11, 1966 Filed May 5, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,228,427 DOBBIES Rolf Honegger, Zurich, Switzerland, assignor to Maschinenfabrik Ruti A.G., Ruti, Switzerland, a company of Switzerland Filed May 3, 1962, Ser. No. 192,240 Claims priority, application Switzerland, May 5, 1961, 5,353/ 61 16 Claims. (Cl. 139-66) This invention relates generally to looms and more particularly to dobbies.

Dobbies for looms with harness motion control mechanism operated by means of paper pattern cards in most cases are equipped with a blade or knife driving device for operating a number of lifting hooks on pattern card sensors which must be engaged by the knife or disengaged from the knife at each Working cycle of the loom. In very fast operating looms this results in breakdowns when the lifting hooks of the sensors are not engaged or disengaged quickly enough. In this type of dobby the blade driving device is subject to a great deal of wear and tear.

A principal object of the present invention is the complete elimination of the need of blade driving devices in loom dobbies. I

Another object is to provide a new and novel dobby for positive control of harnesses, through a positive linkage system, for shed forming on looms.

A feature of the dobby according to the invention is the provision of a continuous drive connection between the dobby and the individual healds, which are capable of being raised and lowered to two operative positions.

At least one planetary gear train is arranged on the dobby in which a planetary gear is driven by a continuously driven member of the dobby. Another gear of the train is operably connected with a harness for motion control thereof in response to actuation of this other gear by the planetary gear. A third part of the train, in the form of a gear-toothed member or rack, is operated into contact with the planetary gear selectively and its teeth held stationary to render the planetary gear effective to actuate the first-mentioned gear member angularly at preselected intervals in timed relationship with the loom operation cy le.

Other features and advantages of the dobby in accordance with the present invention will be better understood as described in the following appended claims, in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a dobby according to the invention;

FIG. 1a is a fragmentary view of a part of the embodiment in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic elevation view of a heald or harness of a loom and is illustrative of the operating con-.

nections of the dobby in FIG. 1 to the individual harnesses of a loom; and

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic elevation view of a portion of a dobby according to the invention.

According to the drawing, FIG. 2, a heald or harness of a loom, not shown, is connected adjacent opposite ends to two rods or links 11 which are connected to cranks 12 pivoted on fixed pins 13. The lower ends 12a of the two arm levers or cranks 12 are connected with one 3,228,427 Patented Jan. 11, 1966 another by means of a rigid connecting rod 14. The cranks 12 are connected by means of a power transmission rod 15 with a rocker arm 16 of a dobby illustrated in detail in FIG. 1. It will be understood that the dobby hereinafter described operates a plurality of loom harnesses, not shown. Only one harness is shown in order to simplify the drawing.

As may be seen in the drawing, FIG. 1, the rocker arm 16 and another rocker arm 17 rockably swing about a fixed pivot shaft 18 mounted in the dobby frame. Only two rocker arms, 16 and 17 are shown in FIG. 1, in order to simplify the drawing, however, each heald or harness has a rocker arm associated with it and the dobby has as many rocker arms as the looms have healds or harnesses. The rocker arms are actuated in a manner substantially similar -to the manner in which arms 16 and 17 are actuated. Below the pivot shaft 18 pivoted on a pin 19 is disposed a lever 20 pivotally secured to the rocker arm 16 for rocking it to reciprocate the rod 15 and lower and raise the harness 10 in response to intermit tent angular rotation of a sun gear 22 as hereafter-described. An eccentric ring or bushing 22a rotatable with gear 22 is set within a ball bearing 21 in the eccentric lever 20, FIGS. 1 and la. The rotation of the bushing 22a reciprocates the lever 20 to the left and right so that the rocker arm 16 is reciprocably actuated intermittently.

The eccentric lever 20 has a free end opposite to that pivoted on the pivot pin 19. The free end has a recess 23 which functions in conjunction with a cam follower or roller 24 fixed to the free end of a jack lever 25. The jack lever 25 presses the roller 24 into contact with the free end of the lever 20 and into the recess 23 in the lever 20 as the lever is pivoted and in response to the urging of a biasing spring 26. The jack lever 25 is actuated by the free end of lever 20 which is configured as a camming surface and when the roller 24 enters recess 23 a terminal position of the harness is reached. The sun gear 22 is mounted on a shaft 27 which is fixed in the machine frame and is engaged with the planetary gear 23 which is rotatably mounted by means of a pivot pin 29 on a planetary geansupporting lever 33 pivoted at one end on the shaft 27. The end of the planetary gear-supporting lever 30 opposite to the shaft 27 is pivotally secured eccentrically to a reciprocably actuated rod 31 by means of a pin 30a.

In a like manner the rocker arm 17 is connected to a lever 32 reciprocably actuated intermittently by a sun gear 33 rotatably driving an eccentrically disposed bushing 33a in a ball bearing 34 (FIG. 1). The sun gear 33 is rotatable about a shaft 35 which is fixed in the dobby frame and on which a planetary gear-support lever 36 pivots. The support lever 36 supports a planetary gear 37 mounted to rotate about a pin 38. The upper end of the support lever 36 is pivotally secured on one end of the reciprocably actuated rod 31 by means of a pin 36a. The opposite end of the rod 31 is provided with a roller or cam follower 39 pivotally mounted on a pin 31a. The roller is disposed in an eccentric cam groove 40 of an eccentric rotatably driven disc 41. The eccentric disc 41 is fixed on a drive shaft 42 of the loom continuously rotatably driven during operation of the loom.

The free end of the lever 32 is provided with a recess 23a in the manner of the lever 20. A cam follower or roller 24a is pivotally mounted on the free end of a jack lever 25a pressing the roller into the recess in response to a biasing spring, not shown. The arrangement functions as heretofore described with reference to the'lever 20. It will be understood that since the dobby has as many rocker arms as the loom has harnesses there are as many levers comparable to the levers 20, 32 as there are rocker arms. Moreover, for these last-mentioned levers there are respective jack-levers as shown in the drawing each of which is provided with a cam follower such as the end cam follower 24.

The two planetary gears 28 and 37 are engageable with two arcuate gear racks 43 and 44 respectively. The teeth of these two racks 43 and 44 form a circular segment of internal gear teeth. The gear racks 43 and 44 are mounted to pivot about a fixed pivot shaft 45. Two springs 46 and 47, constantly urge the gear racks, 43 and 44 respectively upwardly out of engagement with the planetary gears 28 and 37.

Since the operation of only two harnesses is being described only the two gear racks 43, 44 bear reference numerals. Actually as shown in the drawing a plurality of gear racks are mounted on the shaft 45. These gear racks are engageable individually with the planetary gear of a respective planetary gear train with which they are associated for controlling the positive movement of respective harnesses, not shown. Some of the gears of thevarious planetary gear trains are visible in FIG. 1. A plurality of pivoted control levers are mounted above the armate gear racks for controlling engagement of the gear racks with respective planetary gears of the various planetary gear trains. For example, two control levers 48, 49 are mounted above the two arcuate gear racks 43, 44. A twoarm lever 50 is pivotally mounted on a pin 51 secured to the dobby frame 51a. The lever 50 has an arm 50b carrying a roller or cam follower 52 on a free end thereof.

The roller 52 bears on the peripheral surface of an eccentric disc or cam 53 which is fixed on a shaft 54 which is driven from the loom and revolves continuously together with the drive shaft 42. The control levers are pivotally mounted on a common pivot pin or shaft 56 connected to the arm 50a of the lever 50. Each control lever has a short arm on a free end positionable in a position for carrying out control functions in conjunction with other control members of the control mechanism of the dobby as hereafter explained. For example, the control lever 48 has an arm 48a on its free end opposite to the end pivoted on pin 56. This free end lies on the one hand against a stop 57 which is one of a plurality of stops cooperative with the other control levers and which are fixed on the machine frame. On the other hand upwardly extending portions of the free ends of the control levers engage an end of an arm of a set of actuating levers which are pivotally mounted on a shaft 68 fixed in the machine frame. For example, the arm 48a of the control lever 48 engages an arm 58a of the angle lever 58. The lever 58 has another arm 58b which carries a roller or cam follower 59 which is cooperative with the periphery of an eccentric cam or disc 60. This eccentric disc 60 is fixed on a shaft 61 of which is rotatably driven.

The control levers above they plurality of arcuate control gear racks are each provided with pins or strikers 62, 63 axially movable on a respective lever and are each connected to a yoke which is secured to a respective arcuate gear rack 43, 44. Between the arcuate gear racks and the associated control levers are disposed compression springs, for example, two compression springs 64, 65 between two control levers 48, 49 and the associated gear racks 43, 44. These compression springs are disposed circumferentially of the pins 62, 63 axially guided for axial travel relative to the control levers. The springs tend to move the gear racks and control levers apart. his to be remembered that other springs, for example, the springs 46, 47 bias the gear racks upwardly.

The control levers to the left of the pivot shaft 56, for example controllever 49, lie on the one hand against one of a plurality of stops which are fixed in the machine 4 frame and on the other hand cooperate with actuating levers later explained and described. The control levers to the left are shown in a raised condition since the armate gear racks associated therewith are in an ineffective condition, i.e. disengaged from their respective planetary gears. The control levers have upwardly bent arms on their free ends engageable individually with an individual actuating lever when they are being controlled. For example, the lever 49 is positionable against a stop 66 and at the same time works together with an arm 67a of an actuating lever 67 which is pivotally mounted on a pivot shaft 69 fixed in the machine frame. The actuating lever 67 has another arm 67b which carries a roller or cam follower 70 which bears on the periphery of an eccentric cam disc 71. The eccentric disc 71 is fixed on a shaft 61a which is turned, at the same time as the shaft 61 through a determined angle of rotation with each operation of the control system, that is to say, with each desired alteration in the position of a heald. Thus either the arms 670 or 58a of the actuating levers, 67 and 58 lie in the zone of contact of the arms 49a and 48a of the control levers 48, 49 or out of their zone of contact as later described. There are actually a plurality of actuating levers such as actuating lever 67 mounted on the pivot 69 each actuated.

by an individual cam disc on the driven shaft 61a as illustrated. The mode of operation .of the mechanism described for moving two of the harnesses is as follows, it being understood that similar mechanisms function similarly at the proper time to move the other harnesses:

The eccentric disc 41, which is mounted on the drive shaft 42 of the loom, rotates in accordance with the speed of the loom, and with each rotation actuates the rod 31, by means of the eccentric groove 40, to the right and to the left. At the same time, the two planetary gear-supporting'levers 30, 36 are moved to the left and to the right about their pivot shafts '27, 35 respectively so that pivot pins 29, 38 on which the planetary gears 28, 37 rotate freely, describe an oscillatory arcuate movement relative the shaft 27, 35 of the sun gears 22, 33. Since the planetary gears 28, 37 rotate freely on their pivot pins 29, 38, they roll on the sun gears 22, 33 without rotating the latter. Only when the racks 43, 44 are engaged with the planetary gears 28, 37 are the planetary gears forced to roll on the racks while following the oscillatory movement of their pivot pins 29, 38 and thereby rotating the sun gears 22, 33 through because of their continuous engagement with the sun gears. As a result of this rotation of the two sun gears 22, 33 on their fixed shafts 27, 36 the two levers 20, 32 are shifted in an axial direction by means of the eccentric bushings in their bearings 21, 34 respectively mounted eccentrically to the sun gear wheels 22, 33. r

The axial shifting of the eccentric levers 20, 32 causes the two rocker arms 16 and 17 to be rocked on their common fixed pivot shaft 18 and the respective transmission rods 15, which are attached to each rocker arm, moves an individual heald which is operably associated therewith. The rocker arm 16, shown in FIG. 2, moves the heald 10 means of-the rod 15 and the arm 17 moves its heald or harness, not shown. In the extreme position of the eccentric levers 20, 32'the rollers 24 and-24a enter the recesses 23, 23a in the two eccentriclevers, 20, 32 each time and thereby ensure that the healds attain their respective terminal positions. 7

Should it be desired that a given harness be neither raised nor lowered during the next working cycle, the proper one of the gear racks, for example gear racks 43, 44, is disengaged from its planetary gears, for example, the planetary gears 28, 37. For example, when the planetary gear 28 is disengaged from the gear rack 43, then when the lever 30 ispivotally actuated the planetary gear 28 simply turns or rolls on the sun gear 22 without, however,.causing this sun gear to-rotate. of the rocker. arm 16 on its pivot 18 is also thereby pref The rocking vented and raising or lowering of the heald is obviated. The raising and lowering of the gear racks 43, 44 in order to disengage them from the planetary gears 28, 37 and engage them therewith takes place as follows:

To lower the gear rack 44, the actuating lever 67 is displaced by the eccentric disc 71 into the position shown in FIG. 1, so that the control lever 49 is between the the stop 66 and the arm 67a of the actuating lever 67. As the eccentric disc 53 rotates to the position shown in FIG. 1, the lever 50 is rotated counter-clockwise on its pivot pin 51. The pivot shaft 56 common to the control levers is thereby lowered and the control lever 49 is brought into a position where the upwardly extending free end 49:: can be engaged and held by the lever 67 as the shaft 61a rotates and the cam disc 53 actuates the arm 50 to depress the control lever 49 and thereby compress the spring 65 and move the rack 44 downwardly into engagement with the planetary gear 37.

In order to raise the gear rack 43 thereby to disengage it from its engaged position with planetary gear the actuating lever 58 is rotated by turning the eccentric cam disc 60, so that the arm 58:: is moved clear of the engaged position to a position comparable to that assumed by the actuating lever 71 illustrated in FIG. 1 so that it is moved from the zone of engagement of the arm 48a of the control lever 48. The spring 46 then lifts the gear rack 43 out of engagement with the planetary gear 28. With the arms 48a and 58a out of the zone of engagement raising and lowering of the pivot shaft 56 which is common to the control levers 48 and 49 has no effect on the gear rack 43. The control lever 48 is only moved up and down relative to the striker or pin 62 on the gear rack 43.

If, on the other hand, the gear rack 43 is to be engaged with the associated planetary wheel 28, then the actuating lever 58 must first be pivoted clockwise as far as it can go by the eccentric disc 60 as it turns so that the arm 48a of the control lever 48 is between the arm 58a and the stop 57. The pivot shaft 56, common to the two control levers 48 and 49, is moved continually upwardly and downwardly by the driving shaft 54 by means of the eccentric disc 53 and the operating lever 50. As the pivot shaft moves upwardly and downwardly the control lever arm 48a will engage the actuating lever arm 58a only with the actuating arm 58 in the position illustrated in FIG. 1 and when the shaft 56 is lowered rack 43 is engaged with the planetary gear 28.

It can be seen in FIG. 1 that the movement of the shaft 56 has no effect if the actuating levers are rotated out of the zone of engagement as illustrated in the drawing with respect to the set of the actuating levers to the left of the shaft 56, for example actuating lever 67. Moreover, as can be seen in FIG. 1 of the drawing the control cams 60, 71 controlling the two sets of actuating levers are out of phase by 180 so that the groups of actuating levers are controlled alternately and the associated gear racks are actuated into engagement with their planetary gears alternately.

The dobby as described, therefore, controls the loom harnesses positively and carries out control of the harnesses in moving them from a raised to a lowered position and a raised position in timed relationship with the operation cycle of the loom. t will be understood that the profile of the control cams 53, 60, 71 can be made to carry out control at high speeds or lesser speeds and the principles of the invention applied to dobbies for all types of looms. The invention eliminates complex pat tern card control mechanism in loom dobbies.

A second embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 3. It will be understood that the mechanism illustrated in FIG. 3 is that for operating a single heald. The dobby of the invention has as many of the mechanisms shown in FIG. 3 as the loom to which the dobby is applied has harnesses or healds. in the drawing a rocker arm 117 is mounted to pivot about a pivotal axis 118 which is fixed in the machine frame. The rocker arm 117 is connected with a heald or harness, not shown, in a like manner to that by which the rocker arm 16 is connected with the heald 10 illustrated in FIG. 2. The rocker arm 117 is connected through two links 119, 120 with two gear segments or sectors 121, 122. The two gear sectors 121, 122 are mounted to pivot about pins 123, 124 fixed in the machine frame and are in engagement with one of two planetary gears 125 and 126 respectively.

The d-obby comprises a shaft 127 fixed in the machine frame pivotally mounting a lever 128 which has formed thereon two gear racks 129, 130 which can each be placed in engagement with one of the two planetary gears 125, 126. The lever 128 is connected to the rocker arm 11'] through two pins 131, 132 secured to yokes mounted on the rocker arm by respective pins 131a, 132a. The pins 131, 132 serve as guides for two springs 133, 134 disposed circumferentially thereof and having opposite ends abutting the rocker arm and gear rack lever 128 as shown.

The gear rack lever 128 has three notches 135 on a free end thereof. These notches 135 are engaged by a tooth mounted on the end of a lever 136 which is mounted pivotally on a fixed shaft 137 and which has on an end opposite to the tooth a cam follower or roller 138 which slides in the eccentric earn groove 139 of an eccentric disc or cam 141' A control lever 141 is pivotally secured to the gear rack member 128 which is guided axially, when the member 128 moves, by means of an elongated slot 142 in which pin 143 is on a free end of the control lever. This control lever 141 has two stops 144 which work in conjunction with another lever 145. The lever 145 is pivotally mounted on a fixed pin or shaft 146 and is actuated by a control cam 147 as later described.

The two gear segments or sectors 121, 122 each have a recess or notch 121a, 122a respectively in which rollers 152, 153 respectively are intermittently and alternately engaged. The two rollers are mounted on two respective levers 148, 149 pivotally operable on two pins 148a, 14% fixed in the machine frame. The levers press their respective rollers 152, 153 against the outer edge surfaces of the gear sectors under control of biasing springs 15%, 151. The l'ollencarrying levers are cammed as the gear sectors move angularly as later described so that the rollers 152, 153 are inserted into the recesses or notches 121a, 122a or withdrawn therefrom as illustrated in FIG. 3. When a roller enters a corresponding notch the gear sector cooperative with that roller is held or braked in its angular movement and the corresponding terminal position of the rocker arm 117 is determined so that the corresponding raised or lowered terminal position of the harness being controlled is accurately determiner.

The two planetary gears 125 and 126 are pivoted on two crank levers 154, 155 which pivot on pins 123, 124 fixed in the machine frame. The lower ends of the two crank levers 154, 155 are connected with one another by means of a rigid rod 156. The rod 156 has on a free end thereof a roller or cam follower 157 which follows an eccentric groove 158 of an eccentric disc or earn 159. The eccentric disc 159 is fixed on a continually rotating drive shaft 161} of the loom, not shown.

The mode of operation of the mechanism descrihed is as follows:

The eccentric disc 159, which is fixed on the driving shaft 161) of the loom, turns according to the speed of the loom and at each revolution swings the two cranks 154, 155 on their pivots 123, 124 so that the planetary gears 125, 126, which are fixed to the angle levers 154, 155, are

also swung on their pivots 123, 124. When a gear rack of the gear rack lever 128 is in engagement with a planetary gear, the planetary gear turns itself upon the gear rack and thereby swings the associated gear sector about its pivot so that the rocker arm 117 is rocked about the pivot 113. For example, when the planetary gear 125 is engaged with the gear rack 130 and the gear rack lever is held stationary by the lever 136 the planetary gear 125 will pivot or actuate the gear sector 121 so that the rocker arm 117 is actuated through the link 119 in response to the angular movement of the gear sector and the harness is thus moved to one of its operative positions. The angular movement of the rocker arm 117 causes the other gear segment 122 to be pivoted about the pin 124 by means of the link 120. It being understood the two links 119, 120 are pivotally secured to the rocker arm. The movement of the gear sector 122 is possible because the planetary gear 126 is not in engagement with the gear rack 129. Moreover, as a result of the rocking motion of the rocker arm 117, the spring 133 is compressed and the spring 134 is relaxed. The pins 131 and 132 move axially in the gear rack lever so that the compression and relaxation of the springs is carried out between the gear rack lever 12% and the yokes 131a, 132a which serve as abutments. The energy stored in spring 133 makes it possible to move the lever 128 clockwise and to engage with the planetary gear 126 when the stop lever 136 is swung out of the notch 135 of the gear rack lever 128 under the control of the eccentric groove 139.

Whether the gear racks 129, 130 of the gear rack lever 128 should be engaged with the planetary gears 125, 126, can be controlled from a control cam groove 147 in the following manner. In the position shown in FIG. 3, the stop 144 of the control lever 141 strikes against a projection 145a of the lever 145 when the gear rack lever 128 is swung clockwise and a complete swing of the lever 128 into engagement with the planetary gear 126 is thereby prevented. The gear rack lever remains centered between the two planetary gears 125, 126 and is not engaged with either of the two planetary gears 125, 126. The rocker arm 117 is in this case not rocked in the course of the next working cycle. A projection 14517 of the lever 145 is provided for ensuring that the tipping lever 128 does not come into engagement with the planetary gear 125. The cam groove 147 controls the lever 145 to carry out the stopping function and the release of the control lever 141 so that the gear rack lever 128 can be actuated to the left or right under control of the compression spring 133, 134 and rocker arm 117 as later described.

At each working cycle the toothed lever 136 is actuated by the continually driven eccentric disc 140 and is disengaged from one of the notches 135 of the gear rack lever 128 so that this can be swung to the left or right according to which of the springs 133 or 134 is compressed and can actuate the gear lever 128 to its alternate position.

The heald, not shown, connected to the rocker arm 117 cannot move from its extreme upper position when its weight is supported on the rocker arm 117 and the gear rack lever is disengaged from both of the planetary gears. The pivotal points of the links 119, 120 and the centers of the crank pins 123, 124 lie in a straight line and, therefore, in a dead center position so that no turning moment can develop when the harness or heald is in its terminal raised operative position.

The force for operating the gear rack lever 128 is produced by the rocker arm 117 so that the control mechanism 141, 145, 147 does not need to generate this force but solely serves the purpose of control. The tooth pressure which the planetary gears 125, 126 exert on the gear racks 129, 130 of the gear rack lever is taken up by the stop lever 136 so that the control mechanism 141, 145, 147 is relieved of this pressure also and the control function is easily and accurately carried out.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be understood that the invention is in no way limited to these embodiments, and that many changes may be made within the true spiritand scope of the invention, as defined by the following claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by letters Patent is:

1. A dobby for operating a loom harness operable to to two operative positions corresponding to a raised position and a lowered position Comprising, a rotatable member driven continuously during operation, a pivotally mounted first member having gear teeth, a planetary gear engaged at least in operation with said first member, means operable by said driven member for rolling said planetary gear on said first member, means for rendering said planetary gear efiective to move said first member angularly at preselected intervals in timed relationship with the operation cycle of the loom, and means responsive to the movement of said first member to move said harness to at least one of said operative positions in response to the angular movement of said first member.

2. A dobby for operating a loom harness operable to two operative positions corresponding to a raised position and a lowered position comprising, a rotatable cam driven continuously during operation, a pivotally mounted sun gear, a planetary gear engaged with said sun gear, means operable by said driven cam for rolling said planetary gear on said sun gear, means for rendering said planetary gear effective to drive said sun gear angularly at preselected intervals in timed relationship with the operation cycle of the loom, and means responsive to the movement of said sun gear to move said harness to at least one of said operative positions in response to the angular movement of said sun gear. V

3. A dobby for operating a loom harness operable to two operative positions corresponding to a raised position and a lowered position comprising, a rotatable member driven in timed relation with the operation cycle of said loom during operation, a pivotally mounted first member having gear teeth, a planetary gear engaged with said first member, means operable by said driven member for rolling said planetary gear on said first member, means for rendering said planetary gear effective to move said first member angularly at preselected intervals in timed relationship with the operation cycle of the loom, and means responsive to the movement of said first member to move said harness to said operative positions alternately in response to the angular movement of said first member.

4. A dobby for operating a loom harness operable to two operative positions corresponding to a raised position and a lowered position comprising, a rotatable cam driven continuously from the loom during operation, a pivotally mounted sun gear, a planetary gear engaged with said sun gear, means operable by said driven cam for rolling said planetary gear on said sun gear, means for rendering said planetary gear effective to rotate said sun gear at preselected intervals in timed relationship with the operation cycle of the loom, and means responsive to the rotation of said sun gear comprising means to move said harness to said operative positions in response to the angular rotation of said sun gear.

5. A dobby according to claim 4, in which said means responsive to rotation of said sun gear comprises a pivotally mounted rocker arm, a lever operably actuated by said gear to rock said rocker arm, and a linkage system positively linking said rocker arm to said harness for positive movement to said two operative positions.

6. A dobby according to claims, including a shaft driven from the loom for driving said cam, said cam having means defining eccentric means, means connected to the last-mentioned eccentric means for rolling said planetary gear on said sun gear.

7. A dobby according to claim 5, in which said means for rendering said planetary gear effective to rotatably drive said sun gear comprises a gear rack selectively engageable with said planetary gear in a stationary position, and control means to control engagement and disengagement of said gear rack with said planetary gear in timed relationship with the operation cycle of the looms 8. A dobby for operating a harness on a loom comprising, a continuously driven member, a pivotally mounted angularly movable first member having gear teeth, a

planetary gear engaged with said first member, connections from said driven member for rolling said planetary gear on the gear teeth of said first member, a third member having gear teeth selectively engageable with said planetary gear to cause said first member to move angularly, means connected to said harness operably connected to said first member for actuating said harness to an operative position in response to the angular movement of said first member, control means to selectively engage the gear teeth of the third member with said planetary gear in timed relationship with the operating cycle of said loom.

9. A dobby for operating a harness on a loom operable to two operative positions corresponding to a raised position and a lowered position comprising a continuously driven member, a pivotally mounted first member having gear teeth comprising at least one pivotally mounted angularly movable gear sector, a planetary gear engaged with said gear selector, means operable by said driven member comprising connections from said driven member for rolling said planetary gear on the gear teeth of said gear sector, a third member having a gear rack selectively engageable with said planetary gear to cause said gear sector to move angularly, means connected to said harness operably connected to said first member for actuating said harness to at least one operative position in response to the angular movement of said gear sector, and control means to selectively engage the gear rack of said third member with said planetary gear in timed relationship with the operation cycle of said loom.

10. A dobby for operating a harness on a loom comprising, a continuously driven member, a pivotally mounted sun gear, a planetary gear engaged with said sun gear, connections from said driven member for rolling said palnetary gear on said sun gear, a third member having a gear rack selectively engageable with said planetary gear and held stationary relatively thereto to cause said planetary gear to cause said sun gear to move angularly, means connected to said harness operably connected to said sun gear for actuating said halness to an operative position in response to the angular rotation of said sun gear, and control means to selectively engage the gear teeth of said third member gear rack with said planetary gear in timed relationship with the operation cycle of said loom.

11. A dobby for operating a plurality of harnesses on a loom comprising, a member continuously driven in operation, a plurality of planetary gear trains, each planetary gear train comprising a pivotally mounted sun gear having gear teeth, a planetary gear engaged with said sun gear, connections from said driven member for rolling said planetary gear on the gear teeth of said sun gear, for each gear train a third member having gear teeth selectively engageable with said planetary gear and held stationary relatively thereto to cause said planetary gear to move said sun gear angularly, for each harness means connected to said harness and operably connected to said sun gear for actuating said harness to two operative positions corresponding to a raised position and a lowgred position in response to the angular movement of said sun gear, and control means to selectively engage the gear teeth of said third members with said planetary gears in timed relationship with the operation cycle of said loom.

12. A dobby for operating a plurality of harnesses on a loom comprising, a member continuously driven in operation, a plurality of planetary gear trains, each gear train comprising a pivotally mounted sun gear having gear eeth, a planetary gear engaged with said sun gear connections from said driven member for rolling said planetary gear on the gear teeth of said sun gear, for each gear train a third member having a gear rack having gear teeth selectively engageable with said planetary gear and held stationary relatively thereto to cause said planetary gear to move said sun gear angularly, for each harness means connected to said harness and operably connected to said sun gear for actuating said harness to two operative positions corresponding to a raised position and a lowered position in response to the angular movement of said sun gear, control means to selectively engage the gear rack teeth of the third members with said planetary gears 1n timed relationship with the operation cycle of said loom.

13. A dobby for operating a harness on a loom operable to two operative positions corresponding to a raised position and a lowered position comprising, a member continuously driven in operation, a plurality of planetary gear trains each comprising a pivotally mounted gear sector having gear teeth, a planetary gear engaged with said gear sector connections from said driven member for rolling said planetary gear on the gear train of said gear sector, a third member having two gear racks having gear teeth selectively engageable alternately with one of said planetary gears and held stationary relatively thereto to cause the planetary gear engaged to move a respective gear sector angularly, means connected to said harness operably connected to said gear sectors for actuating said harness to two operative positions corresponding to a raised position and a lowered position in response to the angular movement of said gear sectors, and control means to selectively engage the gear teeth of said third member with said planetary gears in timed relationship with the operation cycle of said loom.

14. A dobby for operating a loom harness operable to two operative positions corresponding to a raised position and a lowered position comprising, a rotatable member driven rotatably continuously during operation, a pivotally mounted first member having gear teeth comprising at least one pivotally mounted gear sector, a planetary gear engaged with said gear sector, means operable by said driven member for rolling said planetary gear on said gear sector, means for rendering said planetary gear effective to move said first member angularly at preselected intervals in timed relationship with the operation cycle of the loom and means responsive to the movement of said first member to move said harness to at least one of said operative positions in response to the angular movement of said first member. means comprising a gear rack for rendering said planetary gear efiective to move said gear sector angularly at preselected intervals in timed relationship with the operation cycle of said loom, and means responsive to the movement of said gear sector to move said harness to at least one of said operative positions in response to the angular movement of said gear sector.

15. A dobby for operating a loom harness operable to two operative positions corresponding to a raised position and a lowered position comprising, a rotatable cam driven continuously during operation, a pair of pivotally mounted gear sectors each having peripheral teeth, a pair of planetary gears each engaged with one of said gear sectors, means comprising a pair of cranks pivotally mounting said planetary gears and operable by said driven cam for rolling said planetary gears on said gear sectors, means comprising pivotally mounted means having two gear racks engageable alternately with a respective planetary gear for rendering said planetary gears effective alternately to move said gear sectors angularly alternately at preselected intervals in timed relationship with the operation cycle of said loom, and means responsive to the movement of said gear sectors to move said harness alternately to said operative positions in response to the angular movement of said gear sectors.

16. A dobby for operating a loom harness operable two operative positions corresponding to a raised position and a lowered position comprising, a rotatable cam driven continuously during operation, a pair of pivotally mounted gear sectors each having gear teeth, a pair of planetary gears each engaged with one of said gear sectors, means comprising a pair of cranks pivotally mounting said planetary gears operable from said driven cam for rolling said planetary gears on said gear sectors, means comprising means having two gear racks engageable alternately with a respective gear for rendering said planetary gears etfective to move said gear sectors angularly alternately at preselected intervals in timed relationship with the operation cycle of said loom, means for holding said gear racks stationary when engaged with said planetary gears, and means responsive to the movement of said gear sectors to move said harness alternately to said operative positions in response to the angular movement of said gear sectors.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS I 2,674,272 4/ 1954 Werner et a1. 13957 2,904,078 9/1959 Pellis 13977 2,956,589 10/1960 Pellis l3977 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,175,641 11/1958 France.

528,458 6/1931 Gennany. 232,331 4/ 1925 Great Britain.

DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner. RUSSELL c. MADER, Examiner.

J. KEE CHI, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A DOBBY FOR OPERATING A LOOM HARNESS OPERABLE TO TWO OPERATIVE POSITIONS CORRESPONDING TO A RAISED POSITION AND A LOWERED POSITION COMPRISING, A ROTATABLE MEMBER DRIVEN CONTINUOUSLY DURING OPERATION, A PIVOTALLY MOUNTED FIRST MEMBER HAVING GEAR TEETH, A PLANETARY GEAR ENGAGED AT LEAST IN OPERATION WITH SAID FIRST MEMBER, MEANS OPERABLE BY SAID DRIVEN MEMBER FOR ROLLING SAID PLANETARY GEAR ON SAID FIRST MEMBER, MEANS FOR RENDERING SAID PLANETARY GEAR EFFECTIVE TO MOVE SAID FIRST MEMBER ANGULARLY AT PRESELECTED INTERVALS IN TIMED RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OPERATION CYCLE OF THE LOOM, AND MEANS RESPONSIVE 